Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) Research Coverage Started at BTIG Research

BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) in a research note published on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on ESNT. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Essent Group from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Essent Group from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Essent Group from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Roth Capital upped their target price on Essent Group from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Essent Group in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.86.

Essent Group Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of ESNT stock opened at $64.29 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.97, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $67.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.06. Essent Group has a twelve month low of $55.34 and a twelve month high of $70.37.

Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $362.69 million during the quarter. Essent Group had a net margin of 51.45% and a return on equity of 11.91%. Research analysts forecast that Essent Group will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essent Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Essent Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO David Weinstock sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.54, for a total transaction of $376,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 29,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,055,788.76. The trade was a 15.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Douglas Pauls sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.70, for a total value of $174,250.00. Following the sale, the director owned 30,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,101,733.80. The trade was a 7.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 104,483 shares of company stock worth $7,142,672 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essent Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Essent Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Essent Group by 97.1% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Essent Group by 790.6% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Essent Group by 111.8% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 464 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Essent Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 93.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Essent Group

Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a Bermuda-based holding company that provides private mortgage insurance and related risk-management services for the U.S. residential housing market. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company helps mortgage lenders manage the credit risk associated with low-down-payment home loans.

Essent’s principal business is mortgage insurance, which protects lenders and other mortgage investors against losses if a borrower defaults. Its products are generally used with conventional residential mortgages that have loan-to-value ratios above the levels traditionally eligible for uninsured financing.